Surgical finger cot



y 0 F. A. AGNONE 3,511,242

SURGICAL FINGER COT Filed Dec. 29, 1957 INVENTOR A FA/I/K A flan/0MP United States Patent O 3,511,242 SURGICAL FINGER COT Frank A. Agnone, 327 N. Washington Ave., Scranton, Pa. 18503 Filed Dec. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 694,656 Int. Cl. A61b 17/ 04, 19/04 US. Cl. 128303 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a surgical finger cot which may be worn by surgeons, particularly dental surgeons, and by surgeons assistants. Some former surgical finger cots give a degree of sanitary protection but allow the ball of the finger to be bare or thinly covered so as to permit the surgeon full sensitivity of touch. Such previous finger cots, however, do not protect the wearers finger from puncture by the point of the needle during the suturing. Yet suturing requires the damaged tissue to be supported against a firm surface having a well-defined edge. While protection from puncture was previously achieved with thimbles and finger guards, as in US. Pats. Nos. 1,380,960 to V. Hmenia and 3,228,033 to Ames et al., such prior devices do not permit the required degree of feeling in the wearers finger, nor do they provide a suitable working surface and edge to work against, or the degree of control required for holding the damaged tissue in place during suturing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The novel surgical finger cot is comprised of a hollow flexible body adapted for receiving a finger therein, and further permitting the wearer a goodly degree of feel with the area of interest. The body has, on at least one side along the first finger joint, an ear extending backwardly. The ear, or ears, is stiffer than the body but still complaint and has a well-defined terminal edge. In use, the wearer may roll his finger so that the ear presses on the area of interest holding the damaged tissue in place in such a way that the tissue is supported during suturing and the finger is protected from puncturing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side view of a surgical finger cot in position for use on the index or middle finger of one hand.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the cot of FIG. 1 positioned against the tissue to be sutured which is shown in sectional view.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the cot of FIG. 1 showing its position on the back surface of the finger.

FIG. 4 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1 except that the terminal edge of the ears are scalloped instead of straight.

Similar reference numerals are used for similar structures throughout the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The novel finger surgical cot shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is comprised of a hollow flexible body member gener- 3,511,242 Patented May 12, 1970 ally indicated by the reference numeral 11 on a finger 10. This body member 11 has side walls 12 and 13, a back wall 14 at the back of the finger 10, and a front wall- 15 at the front of the finger 10. One end 16 of the body 11 is open to facilitate entry of a finger therein. It contains a slightly thickened border 17 designed to firmly grip the finger. The other end is closed by an end wall 18 which joins with the side walls 12 and 13, the back wall 14 and the front wall 15.

Attached to the body member 11 along the sides of the first joint of the finger 10 are a pair of ears 19 and 20. The ears 19 and 20 are generally flat in appearance and are joined to the body 11 along one edge of the ear. The ears 19 and 20 extend backwardly to a terminal edge 23 and 24 with intervening major surfaces 21 and 22 respectively. The finger cot may omit one of the ears 19 or 20. The terminal edges 23 and 24 preferably extend beyond the back wall 14 and may have a straight edge 23 as shown in FIG. 1 or a scalloped edge 23a as shown in FIG. 4 or other configuration. The outer major surfaces 21 and 22 may be smooth or may have dimples 26 in the surface which may aid in preventing slippage or laceration of muco-periosteal tissue during suturing.

The body 11 may be formed of any suitable material, such as plastic or rubber, having the desired thinness and flexibility so as to preserve substantially the full sensitivity of the wearers touch. The ears 19 and 20 are formed of any suitable material, such as a stiff rubber that has the desired hardness characteristics to resist penetration by a needle. For example, the ears 19 and 20 may be of the same material as and cast integrally with the body 11. In such case, the desired stiffness may be achieved by making the ears thicker than the body. Or, the ears 19 and 20 may be of a different material and attached to the body 11. Depending on economic considerations, the novel cot may be pre-sterilized and disposable, or it may be of sufiicient strength to withstand frequent sterilizations and thereby be reusable.

OPERATION With particular reference to FIG. 2, the novel surgical cot is shown in position with the major surface 21 of the right ear 19 pressed against damaged tissue 25. The right ear 21 holds the damaged tissue 25 in place while the needle 28 sutures the break 26 in the damaged tissue 25. Also, the ear 21 provides a backup for the needle 28 to push against. The right ear 21 also protects the finger 10 from penetration by the needle 28. The cot with the scalloped terminal edge 14, as illustrated in FIG. 4, can be used in the same manner with the advantage of increased flexibility of depth. The novel finger cots may be worn on one or more finger of either or both hands of the surgeon or/and his assistants. In each case, the cot may be used to aid in the suturing process and to protect the wearer against puncture by the suturing needle. Protection against puncture during dental surgery is particularly desirable in order to prevent innoculation of pathogenic micro-organisms, which may be present in the mouth or in the blood of the patient. Some such pathogenic micro-organisms are staphylococci (pathogenic and saprophytic), coliform bacilli and related organisms, alpha and beta hemolytic streptococci, pneumococci, etc. Actually, any micro-organism (including those mentioned above) can be transmitted by contaminated needle into the bloodstream of a surgeon or assistant during surgery.

It is understood that many variations from the specific form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawing are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

What is claimed is:

1. A surgical finger cot comprising a hollow flexible body adapted for receiving a finger therein, said body having side walls, a back wall adapted to lie at the back of said finger, and a front wall adapted to lie at the front of said finger, and at least one ear attached to a side Wall of said body and extending toward said back wall, said ear being stiffer than said body and having a definitely defined terminal edge, said ear being adapted to bear against and support damaged tissue during a surgical operation on said tissue.

2. A surgical cot as defined in claim 1 having an ear attached to each side of said body.

3. A surgical cot as defined in claim 1 wherein said ear has a straight terminal edge.

4. A surgical cot as defined in claim 1 wherein said ear has a scalloped terminal edge.

5. A surgical cot as defined in claim 1 wherein said ear is dimpled on the major sideward surface thereof.

6. A surgical finger cot as defined in claim 1 wherein said ear extends beyond said back wall.

7. A surgical finger cot for protecting against puncture of the wearers finger and for supporting damaged tissue during surgery comprising a hollow, flexible finger-receiving body, and

at least one tissue-supporting ear attached to a side of said body, said ear extending backwardly with respect to said body and being so positioned on said body that it lies along the first joint of the wearers finger when said cot is worn, said ear having a definitely defined terminal edge adapted to be pressed against damaged tissue to support said tissue during a surgical operation.

8. A surgical finger cot as defined in claim 7 wherein said body has a back wall adapted to lie at the back of said wearers finger and said ear extends beyond said back wall.

9. A surgical finger cot as defined in claim 8 having two tissue-supporting ears,'each positioned to lie along the first joint of said wearers finger at opposite sides thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,348,962 5/ 1944 Davis 22l X 2,462,208 2/1949 Meyer 294-25 2,588,528 3/1952 Howser 223101 3,228,033 l/1966 Ames et al. 22l 3,343,177 9/1967 Bellamy 2-21 FOREIGN PATENTS 343,601 11/ 1921 Germany.

DALTON L. TRULUCK, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

